How locum mileage works
Most locums know they can claim mileage. Far fewer know how much it's worth, so it gets guessed at in January from bank statements and an old diary, and usually guessed low. The calculator above does the sum properly: your miles for the year, at HMRC's two rates, and what that saves once your marginal rate of Income Tax and National Insurance is applied.
As a sole trader you can use HMRC's simplified expenses for your vehicle: a flat 55p for each of the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p for every mile after, or 24p a mile on a motorcycle. The flat rate covers everything the car costs to run, so there's nothing else to add up and no receipts to keep for fuel. It comes off your profit before tax is worked out, which is why its value to you depends on your tax band: roughly a quarter of the deduction for a basic rate taxpayer, over 40% for a higher rate one.
The alternative is to claim the business share of your actual costs, with capital allowances for the car. It's more work, and for a locum driving an ordinary car it rarely wins. Whichever you pick for a car, you stick with it for as long as you have that car.
Which journeys count
Business travel for a locum means going to a temporary workplace: a pharmacy you're covering, from home or from the pharmacy you were at that morning. The drive home afterwards counts too. What doesn't count is ordinary commuting, and a pharmacy can start to look like a regular workplace if you're there most of the week for a long stretch. If one branch is most of your work, it's worth checking your position with an accountant rather than finding out in an enquiry.
Some pharmacies pay mileage on top of your rate. That payment is part of what you earned from the shift and is taxed with the rest, and you deduct your miles at the full HMRC rate as normal. Open "The pharmacy pays me mileage" above to see how the two sides net off.
The 10,000 mile line
Four shifts a week at 15 miles each way is 5,520 miles over 46 weeks, comfortably under the threshold. Push the distance to 30 miles and you're over 11,040, and the last 1,040 of them are worth 25p rather than 55p. It doesn't mean the long drives aren't worth claiming, only that the rate steps down. From April 2027 the step is smaller, with the higher-mileage rate rising to 35p.
The log that holds up
HMRC doesn't see your log unless it asks, but when it asks, it wants dates, places, reasons and miles for every journey, and it compares them with your invoices. The journeys that are hardest to defend are round numbers that don't match a shift. The easiest log to keep is the one built from your diary as you go, which is why Locumoid works the miles out from each shift rather than asking you to remember them later.
Questions you might have
Can a locum pharmacist claim mileage from home to the pharmacy?
Usually, yes. As a self-employed locum, each pharmacy you cover is a temporary place of work, so driving there from home is business travel, not commuting. The exception is a pharmacy you work at so regularly and for so long that it has become, in effect, your normal workplace. If most of your shifts are at one branch, week in, week out, ask an accountant how HMRC would see it.
What is the HMRC mileage rate for 2026/27?
55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, and 25p a mile after that. The 55p rate was raised from 45p in May 2026, backdated to 6 April 2026, and the Autumn Budget made it permanent. From 6 April 2027 the rate above 10,000 miles rises to 35p. Motorcycles are 24p a mile. These are HMRC's simplified expenses for sole traders, the same figures as the approved rates employees are paid.
Is the 10,000 mile limit per year or per pharmacy?
Per tax year, across all your business driving in that vehicle. Once you've done 10,000 business miles between 6 April and 5 April, every further mile is at the lower rate until the next 6 April, however many pharmacies you cover.
The pharmacy pays me mileage. Can I still claim it?
Yes, but the money the pharmacy pays is income. You add it to your earnings, and you deduct your miles at HMRC's full rate as an expense. If the pharmacy pays you 25p a mile and HMRC's rate is 55p, the result is the same as claiming the 30p difference. Keep the mileage on your invoice so the two sides match.
Can I claim fuel, insurance and repairs as well?
Not on top of the mileage rate. The flat rate per mile is meant to cover everything it costs to run the car: fuel, insurance, tax, servicing, repairs and the car wearing out. You can still claim parking, tolls and congestion charges separately. The alternative is to claim the business share of your actual running costs instead, which is more paperwork and rarely better for a locum. Once you've used the flat rate for a car, you keep using it for as long as you have that car.
What records does HMRC want for mileage?
A log of each business journey: the date, where you went from and to, why (the pharmacy and the shift), and the miles. You don't send it with your return, but HMRC can ask for it, and a log reconstructed from memory in January is the hardest kind to defend. Keep it as you go, or use something that works the miles out from your shifts.
What about a split day at two pharmacies?
The drive from the morning pharmacy to the afternoon one is business mileage of its own, on top of the drive from home and the drive back. Log it as a separate leg.
Is it the same for locum pharmacy technicians?
Exactly the same. The rules and rates apply to any self-employed sole trader. Technicians tend to drive shorter distances for lower pay, which makes the deduction a bigger share of what's earned, so it's well worth claiming.
What if I take the train or a taxi?
Fares for business travel are allowable expenses in full, as are parking and tolls when you drive. Keep the receipts or a record of the fare, and add them to your expenses for the year.